The Dragon King

by Brian Godawa

With all her heart.

  CHAPTER 18

  The morning rays of the rising sun made the entire countryside glow in the cool of morning. The emperor looked out over the city and its surroundings from the heights of the imperial palace penthouse.

  Antiochus joined him. From this vantage point, he saw twelve colossal bronze statues, twenty feet high each, stationed around the exterior of the city, pointing outward. They wore fur skins, conical hats, and bore swords and maces.

  “What are those?”

  The emperor spoke with pride. “I melted down the weapons of my victory over the seven kingdoms and had those created as totems to guard the city from the Juren.”

  “What are Juren?”

  “Giants.”

  Antiochus remained silent.

  “We call them the offspring of the gods. I have put much money and labor into building a Long Wall on the northern perimeter of my empire, a great wall, to keep them out—along with the barbarian hordes. But as we both know, walls are no guarantee of permanent protection.”

  Huang Di looked at Antiochus’ stare. “What is the matter, do you not have giants in Seleucia?”

  Antiochus said, “In our myths and legends. They were great titans who were imprisoned in the underworld because of their rebellion.”

  “Oh, these are not legends, my dear Greek. I can assure you of that.” He changed the subject, “Are you pleased with Mei Li?”

  Antiochus was thrown by the question. It seemed calculated. He said, “She is an excellent teacher of your ways.”

  “And are you an excellent teacher of your ways?”

  Antiochus was not sure how to take the remark. Did he mean his cultural ways? Did he suspect their love? Was he stalking him as a tiger would its prey? Wu Shu must have discerned more than Antiochus had hoped, and had informed the emperor. Would he not?

  Antiochus tried to throw him off the scent. “Our nations have much to learn from each other.”

  The emperor said, “One more than the other.”

  Antiochus thought the height of this tower reinforced the godlike condescension that corrupted this small man’s soul. All people were playthings to such rulers.

  The emperor continued, “So I would like to ask you a question. To ascertain the wisdom of your western philosophy.”

  Antiochus said, “I will do my best to meet your expectations.”

  The emperor smiled. Antiochus saw him hesitate and cringe just slightly. Another hidden moment of internal pain, headache or other, he wasn’t sure.

  The emperor proceeded. “I have two sons, as you have seen. My eldest, Fusu, is a strong warrior and leader. He has the traits of a good emperor who would rule justly. And tradition says that he should succeed me. But Fusu is also a loyal follower of Confucius’ ideals that stress family, tradition and ancient wisdom. This is a philosophy I have outlawed because it was part of a long period of warring states in Tianxia, whose bloodshed and lawless disorder I alone was able to overcome with my empire.”

  Antiochus listened carefully. He didn’t remember hearing any stories of warring states from his mother. It must have occurred after her people made contact with Cyrus the Great over Babylon. Huang Di paused and stared out over the city with godlike transcendence.

  “My youngest son, Huhai, is a weak-minded child. He is easily manipulated, and shows no talent for leadership. But he is a devoted loyal student of Legalism, which I have instituted, and which stresses law, uniformity, and the future. Legalism has produced peace from war, restored unity, identity, and harmony under law.”

  Antiochus knew what the question would be.

  “Now, my dilemma. Should I choose family and tradition and support Fusu’s claim to the throne, I would be supporting the very philosophy against which I have sought to rule. I would jeopardize my empire with a return to feudalism, but under a good and just leader.” He paused thoughtfully. “Should I choose philosophy and ideals and entrust the throne to Huhai, I would ensure the continuance of Legalism and the Ch’in empire, but at the hands of an incompetent fool and puppet who will no doubt end in ruin. Which son, then would you recommend I choose to succeed me on the throne of my great empire?”

  Antiochus said, with resignation, “Good men are rarely great men.”

  The emperor smiled. “You sound suspiciously like Confucius or Lao Tzu.”

  Antiochus said, “And what do your advisors say?”

  “Li Ssu, my high chancellor, tutors my son Huhai. Meng Tian, my decorated general, has taken Fusu under his wing. Their recommendations are obvious. Without Li Ssu, I would not have my laws, without Meng Tian, I would not have my power. Both are necessary to rule.”

  Antiochus said, “And if you discover your elixir of immortality, your dilemma resolves itself.”

  Huang Di replied, “Now you are sounding like a Legalist.”

  Antiochus returned his smile with an uncomfortable one of his own. This was not an easy predicament to solve. He knew his answer would determine his trustworthiness in the emperor’s eyes. He decided to be true rather than calculating.

  He sighed deeply. “Well, your majesty, my own king of Seleucia once had a dilemma of his own that was quite similar. His first born was a bastard, the fruit of true love, but not of tradition. His other son was legitimate heir to the throne according to tradition, but only tradition. For he was a cruel son who the king knew would not reign justly. If the king acknowledged his true first born, his dynasty would no doubt dissolve over time and lose power in the eyes of his subjects. If he ignored the bastard child, his dynasty would continue, but only at the expense of justice. Who do you think the king chose?”

  Huang Di said, “I might imagine that the king would choose a compromise. Send his first born off on a mission to prove himself and achieve the power he so desperately requires for respect. If the first born fails, the decision is made for the king.”

  The emperor paused. Antiochus felt his whole body freeze. Did he know about Antiochus’ own situation? Was he playing with him?

  The emperor smirked. “You are here for dragons.”

  Antiochus stopped breathing.

  He knew. This dangerous madman knew. And there was only one person who could have told him. Everything Antiochus believed about Mei Li, everything he thought was real, came crashing down on him like a wall of bricks. He had thought he had just experienced redemption in her embrace, resurrection even. But it was a trap of death that ensnared him. He had been a fool.

  The emperor’s words broke through the rubble of his despair. “You believe she has betrayed you, Antiochus. Believe it or not, she is helping you. It is I who should be jealous.”

  That could not be possible. What could he mean she was helping him by betraying him? Was this some twisted eastern way of thinking?

  The emperor said, “I will take you to them.”

  To them? What did he mean by “them?”

  As if reading Antiochus’ mind, he added, “To the dragons.”

  Antiochus remained mute, unbelieving.

  The emperor added, “Fear not. There is no need for weapons.”

  Will he throw me to the dragon as an offering? thought Antiochus.

  He had nothing to lose now. “May I bring my magus, Balthazar?”

  “If it will make you feel better, you may bring him.”

  Really? thought Antiochus. He would jeopardize one of his captive wise men?

  Or he was getting rid of the two foreigners most dangerous to his throne.

  CHAPTER 19

  The imperial carriage was accompanied by its usual caravan-entourage on a road leading toward a stone quarry just outside the city. Inside, Antiochus, Balthazar and the emperor rode in the royal comforts of silken cushions and a strange suspension system under the wheels that afforded them a soft ride. A palace guard of twenty followed them discreetly at a distance. But what concerned Antiochus most was that Wu Shu sat with the carriage driver up front.

  Antiochus had had just enough time alone with Balthazar to discuss th
eir options and prepare for their fate. As long as the emperor was foolish enough not to bind them, and to be so close to them, they would return his favor, by concealing daggers to cut his throat the second they opened the door to an armed Wu Shu awaiting them. Antiochus was an expert with weapons himself, but without a comparable sword in his hand, he knew he didn’t stand a chance against the emperor’s champion.

  It made sense to Antiochus that they would be executed quietly outside the city, where Mei Li could not protest and they could not call upon their other magi for help.

  Balthazar had made the mad suggestion to take the emperor hostage, but to what hope? They were in the heart of the East, thousands of miles from home. It was a dragon that their king wanted, and the emperor was now bringing them to that beast, as they had asked.

  The emperor stared at Antiochus as if he knew his thoughts. “This bastard son of the king that you spoke of, do you think that if that son were to have a dragon, it would gain him the approval of the people?”

  Antiochus stared back. The emperor knew his secret. He had to. Antiochus responded in kind, “Does a dragon gain an emperor the approval of the people?”

  Huang Di smiled. “No. For if the people were to discover that their emperor was the son of, say, a servant in the kingdom, rather than the emperor’s own seed, no dragon would be large enough to help him exercise the power he needed to rule. That is why such an emperor would never reveal his true identity and origin.”

  Antiochus thought the analogy sounded too personal to the emperor, as if he were implying it of himself. Was this what Mei Li had meant when she said that Antiochus had more in common with the emperor than he realized? Could this be his own secret offered as an act of diplomacy? Ch’in Shih Huang Di was a bastard son as well?

  The emperor concluded, “Dragons die as do emperors. A ruler can only reign through fear for so long before that fear crumbles beneath the weight of the people.”

  Balthazar now spoke up, “Power must be given, it cannot be taken.”

  The emperor smiled at him—like a snake. Balthazar feared he may have been too bold in his declaration to this tyrant.

  “Ah,” said the emperor. “But power can only come from the living, not the dead.”

  What did that mean? Was Antiochus’ fear justified? Was the emperor hinting at his own quest for immortality or at some nefarious intent for his captives? Antiochus tensed up again, in anticipation of their fate.

  The carriage halted and the door opened for them. Antiochus placed his hand near his blade. Balthazar moved closer to the emperor for the opportunity of a quick grip.

  Wu Shu awaited them. But he was not armed for the kill. There was no squad of assassins to surprise them. They didn’t need a squad with Wu Shu there.

  The emperor stepped out of the carriage first, and looked with amusement on the fearful looks of his two Greek guests. “What were you expecting, my visitors? A dragon to jump out at you?”

  He laughed maniacally. Like a madman. And then he stopped and held his head in pain. He stumbled to gain his footing. Balthazar had jumped out and held up the faltering ruler. Then the emperor vomited into the grass and weeds.

  “Sometimes I think my scholars are feeding me poison to make me go mad instead of immortal.”

  He had no idea how right his sardonic comment actually was. Balthazar was not about to tell him what quicksilver and arsenic do to the human body. But he thought, A madman may prove far harder to contain.

  The emperor and Wu Shu led them down a path off the road. He told them, “This is where I excavate stones for my monuments around the empire. You saw one of them at Langya when you arrived.”

  They walked down an incline into the ravine. Wu Shu stayed behind.

  No rocks to hide troops. No archers above. Just what did the emperor have up his wide plunging sleeves?

  And then he saw it.

  The emperor said, “Behold, the dragons you seek.”

  Antiochus and Balthazar stood dumbfounded. They were on an elevated ridge. Below them was an excavation of rocks. They saw the bones of several large creatures embedded in the rocks, buried alive in a landslide of the deep past. They had been partially uncovered but allowed to remain in their frozen graves of stone.

  The emperor said, “The only dragons in the land are dead ones. Died out generations before my ancestors. I found more in other locations. The one on the left is a griffon.”

  To them, the “griffon” looked like a lion the size of an elephant, but with three horns coming out of its forehead and solid mane. The one above it was a different kind of dragon, the size of a small house. In life, it must have stood upright on two large hind legs, with small front arms, and a mouth full of ravenous looking teeth. A third one looked like a huge bat, but with a strange head like a crocodile and a wingspan of at least thirty feet.

  These articulated remains could truly be the strangest thing Antiochus had seen in this entire land of exotic mysteries.

  The emperor said, “Stories of dragons are mere legends of thunder lizards in primeval days. There are no living dragons in Tianxia.”

  Antiochus and Balthazar stared in frozen wonder at the bones of the long dead monsters of a distant age.

  This changes everything, thought Antiochus. Everything. And not for the better.

  On their way back to the carriage, they were met by Meng Tian and Li Ssu arriving in a huff on their horses, followed by their wards, Fusu and Huhai.

  They both jumped off their mounts and bowed to the emperor. Li Ssu took the lead. “With respect, my emperor, we must speak immediately.”

  The emperor looked at Antiochus and Balthazar with a guilty tight-lipped look as a child would give when caught stealing honey cakes.

  He said to them, “Will you please forgive my impatient chancellor and insistent general their intrusiveness. This will be but a moment.”

  Antiochus and Balthazar bowed in deference.

  The emperor added, “My sons, wait here and entertain our guests with Wu Shu.” Fusu and Huhai bowed ceremoniously, but with looks of incredulity.

  The three Ch’inese leaders entered the carriage and shut the door.

  They needn’t have bothered, because the thin walls hardly obstructed their discussion from the ears of the Seleucid eavesdroppers and their royal family company.

  Li Ssu’s voice was incredulous. “Your majesty, is it true that you have sent the chief magician Xu Fu on yet another extravagant sea expedition to search for the Islands of the Immortals?”

  Huang Di must have nodded because Li Ssu continued. “I have been warning you for months that the treasury is dangerously depleted from your pursuits of this elixir of immortality.”

  Meng Tian’s booming voice added, “And the building of the Long Wall.”

  The emperor said, “Ah, the Wall.”

  Antiochus and Balthazar had heard that the Long Wall was a three thousand mile long barrier along the outer edge of the empire. It was a pet project of a determined tyrant who would not consider the financial consequences of his actions.

  Meng Tian said, “There are reports of giants amassing north of Yanjing.

  Antiochus and Balthazar shared a look of fear.

  The emperor said, “Do not worry about the giants.”

  Li Ssu complained, “The economy is collapsing. The people are starving. Your majesty, with humble respect, this quest for immortality cannot continue. You have sons that will ensure dynasty.”

  Antiochus saw Fusu and Huhai fidget nervously. They were both unqualified to lead the empire, and they no doubt knew they were dispensable if the emperor achieved eternal life.

  This must be truly serious, for Antiochus had not heard Li Ssu and Meng Tian agree on anything the entire time he had been here. The two always seemed at odds with one another.

  Meng Tian said, “I have heard murmurs of mutiny among the soldiers’ ranks.”

  The emperor’s response was instant. “Kill all the mutineers and their families.”

  Meng
Tian said, “But an uprising of the nomadic laborers has already begun near Yanjing in the far north. Rumors are as many as twenty thousand men.”

  “Then take an army of forty thousand, go to the wall and crush it, General.”

  “It will not be easy, my lord. It is six hundred miles to the site of the insurrection. It will take a force of forty thousand soldiers a fortnight’s rapid march at least. The rebels are entrenched and have been building their numbers for some time. They will be organized for defense by the time I arrive.”

  The emperor’s voice seemed to turn into a soothing, motherly calm. “Fear not, my mighty general. I will send you the help you need for both insurrection and giants.”

  Antiochus and Balthazar looked askance at one another. What help was he talking about? More troops? Secret weapons? For all the depraved leader’s degenerating behavior, when he spoke of his “help,” he seemed to suddenly be taken by an unnatural calm.

  What was this mad man hiding? Antiochus could not help but think that Mei Li had something to do with it. Her subterfuge, her betrayal. What was she after?

  But then the emperor said, “And General, take my sons with you to the Wall.”

  The Greeks saw Huhai cringe in dread of his duty. Fusu was not so fearful.

  Meng Tian said, “Your highness, what of the danger?”

  The emperor said, “If they do not go, they will never gain the experience they need to lead the imperial army. And if they die young in battle, then they were not qualified by fate to be emperor.”

  Both the sons now appeared frightened by their future.

  Li Ssu interrupted. “Your highness, may I recommend, you hold back Huhai. I am in the middle of important legal teaching with him, and I cannot afford such disruption for his education.”

  Huang Di knew that the key to continuing the Legalist transformation that he had begun was a thorough indoctrination in its principles.

  He said, “Granted. General, take Fusu alone. I am tired of Fusu blathering on about Confucians and their ancient traditions. Let him see how these friends of his defy law and order.”

  Huhai’s fear turned to a subtle smirk. Fusu frowned with disappointment.